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Appeals Court Reverses Decision in ‘Take Care of Maya,’ Hospital No Longer Needs to Pay Family
In 2023, a judge awarded Take Care of Maya subject Maya Kowalski and her family more than $200 million after they sued Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in a high-profile case. Nearly two years later, an appeals court reversed the decision in favor of the hospital.
Following a 2023 trial, a Florida jury found the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital liable for false imprisonment, wrongful death, battery, fraudulent billing and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The hospital was initially ordered to pay the family $211,451,174, as well as another $50 million in punitive damages. However, the trial judge later lowered the amount to $213.5 million.
The trial took place after Netflix’s Take Care of Maya documentary was released in June 2023, in which the Kowalski’s family recalled their experience of taking Maya to the hospital amid ongoing health problems when she was just 9 years old.
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A major update in the case was revealed on Wednesday, October 29, when an appeals court overturned that verdict and the hospital was deemed no longer responsible to pay the Kowalski family, according to Fox 13 News.
The general public got an inside look into the case when the Kowalski’s featured their allegations in the Netflix documentary. The documentary recapped the family’s years-long struggle as Maya was diagnosed with the rare neurological disorder complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). After she received treatment at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, the family entered into a highly publicized legal battle with the hospital.
Following her diagnosis in 2015, a Tampa-based doctor not affiliated with the hospital prescribed ketamine to Maya, which the family said immensely helped her.
Maya later visited Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital hospital during an emergency visit in October 2016, where staff reported her case to child services when her mother, Beata Kowalski, asked medical personnel to give Maya ketamine.
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Beata was then accused of child abuse stemming from Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP),” according to People. MSP is a mental illness in which the “caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick,” according to Medline Plus.
Maya was handed over to state custody amid the monthslong ordeal, and the hospital barred Beata from contacting her daughter. In light of the situation, Beata committed suicide in 2017 at the age of 43. She left a note, explaining she couldn’t handle “being treated like a criminal.”
Following Beata’s death, the Kowalski family sued the hospital and won the trial in November 2023.
During the October 29 court hearing, it was concluded that the hospital acted “in good faith” by reporting Beata to child services, per People.
“This opinion sends a clear and vital message to mandatory reporters in Florida and across the country that their duty to report suspicions of child abuse and, critically, their good faith participation in child protection activities remain protected,” Ethen Shapiro, the lawyer representing the hospital, stated.
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